Absolute Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Absolute Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 622 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Argus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $766.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $6.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $886.85. 1,356,876 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,956,172. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $819.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $749.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.17 billion, a PE ratio of 55.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $525.06 and a one year high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.